Preserve: Complete guide

Here you will find all the information you need to successfully play Preserve.

This is my first time writing in 2 languages. I used Google Translate, so the text might be terrible. I kindly ask you to write this or is the guide clear?

Update

- 02.22.25: The Marine Biome guide has been reworked.
- 02.13.25: Added "General" and "Calculation data" sections for the Savana biome.
- 02.13.25: Continental Biome guide has been reworked.
- 09.11.24: Added solutions to Savana biome puzzles 11-15.
- 08.20.24: Added walkthrough of the middle map of the Marine biome.
- 08.17.24: corrected the calculation of the Thermal source and updated the data for the calculation.
- 08.16.24: Added in the Marine Biome section: general, estimated data, walkthrough of the small map.
- 08.14.24: Added solution to Continental Biome puzzles.
- 08.12.24: Added solutions to the puzzles of the Marine biome and Savana biome.
- 08.11.24: Added walkthrough of the Large Continental Biome map.
- 08.09.24: Creating a guide.

Links

My contacts

Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/1nikopol
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl8KWzKn1lA-LFO5hZPB82g
VK – https://vk.com/nikopol_game
Discord - https://discord.gg/dTfvMF75xP
Donate - https://www.donationalerts.com/r/1nikopol

General

Continental biome is the simplest biome. The main thing is to place Rivers and Lakes correctly.




Mountains (gray cells) cannot be watered, so the maximum number of harmony points will depend on their number.



Lakes are not placed next to each other, since there are no bonuses from this, but on the contrary, you will get fewer Habitat cells around:



The river should not have any sharp turns so that the maximum number of Habitats can be placed around it:

Watermill

Requirement: the presence of a River of 18 cells.

Placement: on the River.

Description: Increases the Harmony Point bonus by +1 for each Lake or River square and +2 for each Habitat square next to a Lake or River.

Preserver Hut

Requirement: 15 Habitats of 12 squares each.

Placement: Any free square.

Description: Unlocks the Natural Wonders Shop.

Data for calculation

Walkthrough

Small Map

Map size: 19 cells * 7 islands = 133 cells.

On a small map you won't be able to make a Habitat of 12 cells with 3 different animals. Also, Rivers are not available here.

Ideal placement

• 11 Habitats in 12 cells with 3 identical animals (924 harmony)
  
• 1 Lake (7 harmony)
  
• Watering the land (max 133 harmony)

Total: 1,064 harmony

Medium Map

Map size: 19 cells * 11 islands = 209 cells.

When expanding the territory, it is necessary to create a path as quickly as possible to place a River of 18 cells, which will allow you to get a Watermill. We make the rest of the Rivers 3 cells in size, this will allow you to get the most harmony points.

The maximum number of harmony points depends on how many cards with Lakes and Rivers are given.

Large Map

Map size: 19 cells * 16 islands = 304 cells.

When expanding the territory, it is necessary to create a path as quickly as possible to place a River of 18 cells, which will allow you to get a Watermill. We make the rest of the Rivers 3 cells in size, this will allow you to get the most harmony points.

The maximum number of harmony points depends on how many cards with Lakes are given.

The second task is to create 15 Habitats in 12 cells to get a Keeper's Hut. The main difficulty is that you need to correctly place the Habitats in 12 cells so that later there will be an opportunity to combine Habitats under a Natural Wonder into one Habitat. To do this, place identical Habitats next to each other, leaving one free cell so that you can later combine them. Try not to do this at the edge of the island or next to the River, so that in the absence of the necessary cards, you can occupy this cell with a Lake.

I suggest doing the following: first use the Natural Wonder on one 12-cell Habitat, then from the second Habitat from the middle, using the return card, return the element and place it in the previously left free cell, thus getting a 24-cell Habitat. In the vacant space, place a Lake or transfer an element from another Habitat.

Since the total number of cards for creating Habitats is unknown, you need to act gradually and carefully. Sometimes you will need to combine 2-3 or even more Habitats of the same type. In another case, it is more profitable to make two 12-cell Habitats under the Natural Wonder. Everything depends on the number of cards of the same type.

At the very end, when all the Habitats are placed, under the Natural Wonder, multiples of 12 cells, Lakes and Rivers. We occupy the free space with elements to expand the Habitats under the Natural Wonder. Instead of Rivers in 3 cells, you can simply expand the Habitat under the Natural Wonder even more, since the amount of harmony per cell is the same for both.

Puzzles

Solving puzzles 1-10.

General

Savanna biome is a complex biome. It is necessary not only to correctly place Rivers and Lakes, but also to consider the color of the grass and prepare places for placing Natural Wonders in advance.

Placing Lakes next to each other increases the bonus to harmony points for each adjacent Habitat:

• 1 Lake: +1 harmony for each adjacent Habitat.
  
• 3 Lakes: +2 harmony for each adjacent Habitat.
  
• 6 Lakes: +5 harmony for each adjacent Habitat.

Lakes are placed in a chain (maximum 6) or individually, 1 at a time, to get the maximum number of Habitat tiles around.

Placing in a chain:



Placing individually:



River size increases the bonus to harmony points for each adjacent Habitat:

• 3 tiles: +1 harmony for each adjacent Habitat.
  
• 12 tiles: +2 harmony for each adjacent Habitat.
  
• 24 tiles: +5 harmony for each adjacent Habitat.

The river should not have any sharp turns so that the maximum number of Habitats can be placed around it:

Stilt House

Requirement: a Lake of 6 tiles.

Placement: on a Lake.

Description: Increases the Harmony Point bonus by +1 for each Lake or River square and +2 for each Habitat square adjacent to a Lake or River.

Preserver Hut

Requirement: 10 Habitats adjacent to water.

Placement: any unoccupied square.

Description: Unlocks the Natural Wonders Shop.

Data for calculation

Basic data for calculation:



Detailed calculation for the Lake:



Detailed calculation for the River:

Puzzles

Solving puzzles 1-10.

Solving puzzles 11-15.

Basic mechanics

The marine biome is very different from the previous two, since there is no mechanics for irrigating the land. The land has three levels of depth: ocean, sea and coast. With the help of special cards, we will raise the land to a higher level:

Small Elevation Rase

Placement: Ocean or Sea tile.

Description: Raises one land tile to a higher level and gives +1 harmony point for it.

Large Elevation Rase

Placement: Ocean or Sea tiles.

Description: Raises 7 land tiles to a higher level and gives +1 harmony point for each raised tile (maximum +7).

Habitat

Cards to create Habitats:



Animal cards to place in Habitats:

Island

Placement: Coastline tile.

Description: Grants bonus harmony points for each adjacent Habitat tile.




Placing Islands next to each other increases the harmony point bonus for each adjacent Habitat tile:

• 1 Island: +1 harmony for each adjacent Habitat tile.
  
• 3 Islands: +2 harmony for each adjacent Habitat tile.
  
• 6 Islands: +5 harmony for each adjacent Habitat tile.

Islands are placed in a chain (max 6) or individually by 1 to get the maximum amount of harmony points.

Chain placement:



Individual placement:

Thermal Vent

Placement: Ocean or Sea tile.

Description: Gives bonus harmony points for each adjacent Habitat tile and oxidizes the adjacent Habitat, allowing more animal species to be placed in it.




The harmony bonus from a Thermal Spring is calculated differently than from a Lake, and depends on how many identical Habitat tiles are adjacent to the spring:

Lighthouse

Requirement: 10 Island and Thermal Spring tiles.

Placement: Island tile.

Description: Increases the harmony bonus by +1 for each Island and Thermal Spring tile, and +2 for each Habitat tile adjacent to the Island.

Preserver′s Boat

Requirement: 10 Habitats with 3 different animals.

Placement: any free tile.

Description: Unlocks the Natural Wonders Shop.

Natural Wonders

A Natural Wonder adds an animal to all identical Habitats. Each animal placed this way gives +10 Harmony. This way you can get 4 different animals in a 12-tile Habitat and 3 different animals in a 6-tile Habitat.

Data for calculation

Walkthrough

Small Map

Map size: 19 cells * 7 islands = 133 cells.

1) You won't need any land at the ocean level, so raise all the land to at least the sea level. This will give you extra harmony points.

2) The Thermal spring needs to be placed to oxidize certain habitats, to accommodate 3 different animals in them, and to get the maximum number of harmony points. The picture below shows the ideal placement of habitats around the Thermal spring:



3) In total, we can place 11 habitats in 12 cells, of which 4 habitats are algae and will be placed at the sea level, and 7 habitats (trees and corals) will be placed at the coast level.

The final result will depend on how many Seahorse cards you get. For ideal placement, you need to get 7 Seahorse cards.

Medium map

Map size: 19 cells * 11 islands = 209 cells.

1) You can do without land at the level - ocean.

2) Always place Thermal Springs so that there is the same Habitat around. You will have to place two Thermal Springs in a certain number of Habitats.

3) There are enough Islands to make two chains of six Islands, the rest of the Islands are placed one at a time.

4) In total, we can place 15 Habitats in 12 cells, of which 6 Habitats are algae and will be placed at ground level - sea, and 9 Habitats (trees and corals) will be placed at ground level - coast.

The final result will depend on how many Thermal Spring cards are given.

Puzzles

Solving puzzles 1-10.

[海魚DD]

thanks a lot！it really helps me a lot

[tv/1nikopol]

There will be an update. While away.

[Kotli]

Can you please add guide for the new puzzles?

[oldladygreybun]

NOTE: for scoring in the Marine Large map. The Lighthouse bonus system has been corrected as per 1.0 full game version, so it now works the way it is described in the Compendium - giving +2 bonus points for cell adjacency BOTH for Islands and for Vents. (It hadn't worked before for the Vents, only for the Islands). So the text for that here in the Guide also needs to be updated.

(And for any old EA players who would like to up their max.scores: this will give markedly higher scores on the Marine Large maps)

[GrumblePug]

Thanks for the response! I'll give that a try!

[tv/1nikopol]

GrumblePug: Thanks! The mechanics are a bit different, but in the marine one it's better to make some biomes 6 cells in size.

[GrumblePug]

This is awesome and helped me improve my play! I can't seem to get the high score for the large marine habitat though - I can make about 4100 consistently. Is the overall score higher if you build a larger habitat (say 24 instead of the usual 12)? Each large map seems to have its own unique mechanic.

[tv/1nikopol]

Update - 02.22.25: The Marine Biome guide has been reworked.

[tv/1nikopol]

Update - 02.13.25: Added "General" and "Calculation data" sections for the Savana biome.

[tv/1nikopol]

Update - 02.13.25: Continental Biome guide has been reworked.